Try any goddam thing you like, no matter how boringly normal or outrageous. If it works, fine. If it doesn't, toss it. Toss it even if you love it.
Stephen KingRead
For me, that emotional payoff is what it’s all about. I want you to laugh or cry when you read a story...or do both at the same time. I want your heart, in other words. If you want to learn something, go to school.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Emotional engagement is the essence of storytelling, as it can evoke laughter, tears, or both.
In this quote, Stephen King emphasizes the intrinsic value of emotional responses in storytelling. He believes that the true purpose of a narrative is to touch the reader's heart, evoking feelings that range from joy to sorrow. By contrasting the experience of reading with formal education, he highlights how stories can teach us profound lessons through emotional resonance rather than straightforward information.
Themes
StorytellingEmotionsLaughterCryingHeartReading
In practice
Example use cases
In a writing workshop, you might say, 'As Stephen King said, emotional payoff is what it’s all about in storytelling.'
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Description begins in the writer’s imagination, but should finish in the reader’s.
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That's the day's business. Thinking. Thinking and isolation, because it doesn't matter if you pass the time of day with someone or not; in the end, you're alone. He seemed to have put in as many miles in his brain as he had with his feet. The thoughts kept coming and there was no way to deny them.
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Late last night and the night before, tommyknockers, tommyknockers knocking on my door. I wanna go out, don't know if I can 'cuz I'm so afraid of the tommyknocker man.
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